Screw-driver and other hand-tool.



No- 828,895 PATENTED AUG. 21, 1906.

0. P. MUELLER & H. E. BRAUNSDORP. SCREW DRIVER AND OTHER HAND TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 12. 1904.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. MUELLER AND HENRY R. BRAUNSDORF, or ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 21, 1906.

Application filed October 12, 1904. Serial No. 228,179.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, OnARLEs F. MUELLER and HENRY R. BRAUNSDORF, citizens of the United States, residing in Elizabeth, county of Union, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Screw-Drivers and other Hand-Tools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to screwdrivers and other hand-tools of various kinds in which a metal blade is secured in a handle of wood or other material.

In many tools of this class, especially screw-drivers, the wooden handle is liable to become split either in use or by the operation of driving the same upon the metal tang during the manufacture of the tool. Moreover, the wooden handle, which is of relatively soft material, is liable after consider able hard usage to become loose and turn upon the blade, so that it is rendered useless.

The objects of the invention are to give the handle a firmgrip upon the tang to avoid the liability of splitting the handle both during manufacture and in subsequent use, to prevent the possibility of the handle turning loosely upon the blade of a screw-driver, and to produce .a tool which shall be not only highly finished and practically indestructible, but also of light weight in proportion to its strength, and which, -moreover, may be made at reduced cost as compared with prior constructions.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows a screw-driver, partly broken away, made in accordance with our invention. Fig.

- 2 is a perspective diagrammatic View illustrating the manner of assembling the parts. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the handle on line a: a: of Fig. 1, taken before the handle is forced upon the tang of the tool. Fig. 4 is a cross section through line y y of Fig. 1, showing ferrule, handle, and tang all in section. 5 is a cross-section through line 2 z of Fig. 1, showing ferrule, bolster, and tang. Fig. 6 is a plan of a bolster provided with calks. calks are shown; but either more or less may be used within the scope of the invention. Fig. 7 is a plan of a tapering ferrule having a cylindrical perforation in its bottom to fit the cylindrical shank of the screw-driver.

The screw-driver may be formed by several methods, but-the preferred method will be described. The blade may be formed Fig.

Two

ing too small to slip readily along the tang to v the base thereof. Said collar is illustrated as formed with a round hole, although it may be otherwise shaped, and it is not essential in all cases that the collar have the cylindrical exterior shown. Said collar is placed in the bottom of a ferrule comprising a body portion 6, preferably tapering, and a bottom or head 7. Then the lower end 8 of a wooden or other handle 9 is forced into said ferrule and driven tightly against said collar. The ferrule may be drawn up from sheet-steel, and since it is very strong the fibers of the wood may be subjected to great compression in forcing on the ferrule. The collar is preferably provided with teeth or calks 10, which are forced to sink into the end of the handle, where they may be seen at Fig. 1. These calks aid materially in preventing relative rotation of handle and collar when the tool is in use.

The ferrule having been forced upon the handle, the tip of the tang is then inserted through the collar, and the tang is then by means of great force driven through the col lar and the handle, the latter preferably having been originally provided with an undersized centra or axial perforation 11, Fig. 3, to receive the tang. By the action of the tapered tang upon the collar 5 the latter is somewhat expanded and shaped or fitted to the tang, the round hole becoming square or at least approaching a square form. The tang is forced in until arrested by the shoulder 4, so that the collar is braced against said shoulder and forms a bolster for' the handle. The ferrule, which may be very strong, not only withstands the wedging action of the tang as it drives through the wood, whereby the fibers thereof are subjected to extra compression, but also aifords a substantial support for the collar 5 against the tendency of the tang to break or distort tage is gained by. making the bolster sepa stronger and moredurable than portions of the improvements may be used 'against the bolster and in engagement With the same unduly, and, if desired, the ferrule I may be formed into a bead 12 to serve as a stiffening-flange around the bottom thereof. Preferably the tang extends through the handle and at its tip is rounded and tapered at 13 to penetrate a central perforation 14, formed in a cap 15, the latter being countersunk in the head of the handle and riveted to the tang, as at 16. By means of this cap the handle is held solidly upon the tang and the calks lOthereof, while in case the screwdriver or other tool is hit with. a hammer the blows fall upon the cap or the end: of the tang and are transmitted. directly through t emetal to the point of. the tool, sothat the handle not suffer.

' Thesquaretang of course alters thereundhole 11 into a square hole, so that the handle throughout substantially its entire length may grip. the tang with considerable force, so as'to reduce the liability ofbecoming loose thereon, while the. effect of the calks f v e a r v n ntot e n z o eh i idle, is praetically to prevent all possibility. f a fid e ev r turning po th blad since the" handle cannot turn against the holdingaotion of the calks, and the bolster. cannot turn upon the tang, While'when the cap 1.5-is used the end of the handle cannot possibly lift off-from the calks. The perforation 17- in the bottom of the ferrule fits closely uponthe cylindrical shank 2 thereby oonducing to the stiffness and elegant appearanceof thedevicef -It be perceived that a, great advan;

rate from the blade or tang. and separate from, the ferrule. By making the bolster l separate from: the blade or tang a'great savingfis made in the, construction of the blade and tang, while, by having thebolsterseparately inade from the ferrule it becomes pra o ticable. to use a ferrule made from sheetsteel; or, other. sheet metal, which is lighter and far stronger than a cast ferrule, and, moreover, is cheaper. and takes. a far nicer. whiletheferrule affords a substantial support for the ring, during. the. forcing through of thetang, so that far greater force can be used and: the tool can be made correwhere bolster and. ferrule consist" of a single piece of cast metal. The calks may, however; be used upon other bolsters than those maldeseparately from the blade orseparately the ferrule. I Othervari ations may be resorted to within, the scope of the invention as, for m stance, by putting the bottom of the ferrule between the bolster and the handleand without others as, forinstance, the calk or alks. m be em t or e p-P a upon thefto'p of the handle may be omitted in sasls some tools and the tang may not extend to the top of the handle. I

Having thus described ourinvention, We claim 1. A hand-tool comprising a blade and a tapering tang, a relatively thick bolster of slightly'softer metal than the tang and having calks and driven upon said. tang, a wooden handle driven upon said. tang and forced against said bolster, the calks forced into the material of the handle, a relatively thin drawn sheet-metal ferrule having a bot tom or end. distinct from saidbolst'e'r and forced upon the lower end ofsaid handle, and. a cap-plate upon the top; of said handle, said tang extending. through said oap plate and being riveted thereto.

2. A hand tool comprisinga blade and a tapering tang, a relatively thick bolster. of

slightly, softer metal than the tang and havngea k d d e po a dfta g', sa d b h r" a d tans ng. p v de w t te oc ing means which prevent turning ofthe bollster on the tang, a wooden handle driven upon said; tang'and; forced against said bolster, the calks forced into themat'erial; of the n e a a relat ly hi drawn shee e l: r l a g. a bott m. O d tinct from said; bolster and; forced, upon the lower. end of said handle.

3. A hand-toolcomprising. a blade and; a tang, a relativelyv thick bolster, of slightly softer metal than the tang and; rigidly. supported thereon against both turning movement and movement longitudinally of' the tang and having calks, a wooden handle driven upon said tang and. forced against said,v bolster, the calks forced into the material of the. handle, and. a relatively thin drawn sheet 'm etal ferrule having a bottom or end distinct from said bolster andforced upon the lower end of-said handle.

4 A hand-tool comprising a blade and a tang, a relatively thick bolster of slightly softer metal. than the tang and havingcalks and driven upon said tang, said bolster and tang beingprovided; with interlocking means which prevent the turning of the bolster on forced against said shoulder, a. wooden handle driven upon said tang and foreed, against said bolster, the calks forced into the: material of the handle, a relatively thin aasei 31 drawn sheet-metal ferrule distinct from said material of the handle, and a relatively thin IO bolster and forced upon the lower end of said drawn sheet-metal ferrule having a bottom or handle. end distinct from said bolster and forced 6. A hand-tool comprising a blade and a upon the lower end of said handle.

5 tapering tang, a relatively thick bolster of CHARLES F. MUELLER.

slightly softer metal than the tang and hav- HENRY R. BRAUNSDORF. ing calks and driven upon said tang, a Wooden Witnesses: handle driven upon said tang and forced I HERMANN GAoDKEY,

against said bolster, the calks forced into the OTTO RosT. 

